Axel Light Trilogy: Wands and Shield

Chapter 13-A

Lieutenant Amanda Mintridge had long auburn hair tied loosely, matching auburn eyebrows, warm brown eyes and a matching warm smile. Yet, Axel felt nervous around her.

She reminded Axel about his mother. They were about the same age if Axel was not mistaken.

'Axel, you can call me Amanda. We will be seeing each other often,' said Mintridge warmly, 'Lieutenant Mintridge is a mouthful,' she grinned at him.

Axel returned a smile, and he nodded agreeably, 'Amanda.'

He liked her immediately.

'We will be going through the basics today,' explained Mintridge, 'I hope you had a good rest last night. I heard that you had problem sleeping.'

Axel gave her another smile, 'I had slept well, thank you.'

He did, in fact, had a good sleep. After a whole day out and more than a day without sleep, he could barely eat his dinner. He was amazed that he could finish all the food on his plate without falling asleep. Once he was done, he dragged himself up to his room, thankful that Elliot had offered to do the dishes, changed and he had plopped on his bed and dozed off. When he woke up, Linden was in his room to introduce Mintridge to him.

'I would not have woken you up if I don't need to leave Stirling urgently. I need to be at Xeliq for a meeting with the Minister of Magical,' said Linden, 'Well, I'll leave the formalities to the both of you. Mintridge is our best trainer. I am sure that you will learn a lot from her.'

Axel quickly washed up, changed and ate his breakfast. Mintridge was waiting for him in the training tent that was pitched the day before, in their back garden. He walked into the tent hastily; he did a double take and his jaw dropped.

From the outside, the tent looked like any 3-men tent that Axel had pitched during camping once, with his Dad. But inside it was cavernous. The ceiling was easily, two stories in height. The width was as big as their house, if not bigger. It looked like his school gymnasium.

'Well, it is like a training hall now, because this is what we want the tent to be,' beamed Mintridge when she saw the shocked look on Axel's face, 'It can be converted to anything we want, with a few spells. It can be a house, a dorm, a tennis court, anything. But it won't last forever, and we would need to strengthen the spell on and off. But the smaller the space is, the longer the spell can last...'

Mintridge continued to explain about the magical tent while Axel walked around the tent, still in awe. He could not imagine the tiny tent he saw out of his bedroom window would look like this inside.

'Let's begin, Axel, you have so much to learn! This is so exciting!' squealed Mintridge, genuinely excited.

Axel nodded eagerly. He could not wait as well. But...

'But... my wand... my spell...' Axel hesitated, 'I nearly destroyed the whole shop the last time I used my wand... not that I had wanted to use it, I didn't know how I had used it. I don't even know what spell it was. I mean, I...'

'Oh, Axel, that's what I am here for!' Mintridge looked at Axel warmly, 'Can I have a look at the Ebony wand?'

Axel obediently retrieved his wand from his jacket's pocket. He handed it to Mintridge, but she did not take it.

'You can hold on to it, I just want to have a look,' she said, 'It is indeed, beautiful,' she nodded agreeably, 'Seldom do we see a wand so black and so smooth. Usually there would be a mixture of colour or some uneven grains on the wood or odd bumps. But yours, it is even smoother than a carved pencil.'

'Is it... is it... so rare?' asked Axel, unsure.

He had seen Elliot looking at it in amazement, caught Robert stealing glances at it, and Linden trying not to look at his wand each time he took it out.

Mintridge shook her head, 'I won't say that it is totally rare, no.'

'But Commissioner Linden said that I need a strong heart to wield it...' said Axel unsurely, as he stared at his wand.

'That's for the Ebony wood, in general,' said Mintridge warmly, 'Each wood has its own density and for ebony, you need a higher percentage of Magical Quotient to channel a spell through the wood.'

Axel stared at Mintridge who was still smiling at him warmly. He had no idea what she had just said, but he nodded politely.

'For your first spell... I mean, the first spell with me,' she corrected quickly, 'Let's try something simple. But before that, hmm... let me see how you hold your wand...'

Mintridge spent the first twenty minutes getting Axel's posture, grip and wrist movement proper while wielding a wand. He was a right-hander, so naturally, he used his right hand to grip his wand. Like holding a tennis racket or a guitar, holding a wand had its ideal stance as well. The right foot would need to be slightly forward than the left foot and positioned at the same angle as the wand.

'Like this?' asked Axel edgily.

He put all his focus on standing at the right spot, resting his weight on the right foot, adjusting the angle on his knees, elbows and wrist, and not dropping his wand. It was so smooth that it might slipped through his fingers.

'That looks really nice,' nodded Mintridge approvingly, 'Now, the most important of all is the grip. Your wand should be in-line with the mark on your palm. You won't be able to see the mark when you hold your wand, you got to feel it.'

Axel stared at the wand in his hand – but he felt nothing.

'How... does it... feel like?' stammered Axel, 'I don't feel anything.'

Mintridge frowned at him, 'Well I guess, if you don't feel anything, that's a good thing. It means that you are comfortable holding it. You are not supposed to be uncomfortable or unsure while holding your wand.'

Axel nodded absently again. Why did it sound so simple yet complicated?

'Ready? You will need to recite the spell, normally, a whisper will do. You don't really need to announce what you are using,' she grinned, 'Or let anyone know beforehand what spell it would be, unless that is the intention. But if you get really good, I mean, really, really good, you might not even need to whisper. However, since I would want to know which spell you are using, I want you to say them loud and clear, alright?'

Axel nodded obediently.

'This is to give light to your wand. Just keep your wand in that position and say Incendo,' said Mintridge.

The tip of her wand lit up, like a torch light.

'Incendo,' repeated Axel.

He felt warmth in his heart, some butterflies in his stomach and his right arm tingling, as he watched in awe when the tip of his wand lit up. But just before that, his wand whirred faintly.

'Do you feel anything?' whispered Mintridge suddenly, next to him.

Axel nodded at her anxiously. But how was he going to explain all those feelings?

'It felt... weird... but nice,' Axel smiled at her weakly.

'Well, savour this feeling,' smiled Mintridge longingly, 'Soon, you will learn most of the spells and you will be casting spells after spells. You won't feel it anymore. Unless when you cast a totally new or an extremely strong spell. Come on, we have a whole list of spells to check off!'