Axel Light Trilogy: Wands and Shield

Chapter 14-A

Linden sat in the quiet of his room leaning against his armchair with his eyes closed, arms folded in front of him. He tried to take a quick nap, but he could not stop thinking about what he had just heard from Mintridge.

Axel Light's Clipeato had taken the form of a Shifter Shield.

No joke.

The boy was getting more mysterious by the day. The more they discover about him or rather, unravel his Magical abilities, the more complicated he became.

Axel Light was special, there was no doubt about that. But how special was he? That, Linden had no clue at all.

Special enough for his parents to device a complicated and unthinkable plan to hide him from the Magical world. Special enough for his parents to sacrifice their lives for him. Special enough for Cyrus Veldor to hunt him.

But why?

What did they know that the rest of the world did not?

Linden pinched the bridge of his nose and massaged his brows. He was getting a headache. He had not been sleeping well and he had been travelling a lot. They had been having a hard time locating the Light's house in Xeliq as well. Since it was hidden so well, there must be something in the house that might be significant to the case. The Lights seemed to be experts in concealing – they could hide a boy for so many years, a house would be a piece of cake.

Linden tried to recall the time when he had finally mastered his Shifter Shield. It was quite recent, probably just before he became a Commissioner, about six years ago. He had trained hard, amassed a lot of experiences on the field, a lot more soul searching before he could finally find the right balance. One fine day, when he had least expected it, he casted his Clipeato and it became a Shifter Shield.

Axel Light got it in his very first try.

Could it simply be because of his innocence? He had no idea what a Shifter Shield was. He did not even know the spell called 'Clipeato', let alone the different forms that it had. He did not even know much about Magic.

Linden sniggered to himself and shook his head.

Magic was not so simple. It was the most complicated thing in the world. Else all the little children would be in Shifter Shields.

Could it be his wand? Or his Magical Quotient? Or having two Magical marks on his palms? Or was it the key that his parents had left for him?

Complicated though it was, Magic always had some explanations.

A reason for everything.

Linden poured a cup of coffee. He was tired but he could not sleep. At least the coffee would make him alert. He had reports to write, an operation to plan, a boy to protect. He had only written the first paragraph in his report when the button on his desk crackled to life.

'Commissioner Linden!'

Linden recognised the voice as Sergeant Lucas Beatty.

'Speak,' said Linden into the button.

'We have found the location of the house!'

Linden's heart skipped a beat.

'Where is it?'

'Mercury Drive! Off Arcturus! But... we have a problem...'

'What problem?' asked Linden curtly.

'We... can't...' Beatty paused, 'We can't see it.'

'What do you mean?' Linden was incredulous.

'We know it's there, but...' Beatty paused again, 'We just can't see it.'

Linden sighed deeply.

'I'll be right there,' said Linden grimly, 'Which number?'

'One-Two-Six,' said Beatty, anxious, 'well, it should be One-Two-Six... but... we can't see it...'

'I'm going there now.'

Linden slammed at the button in frustration. They had finally found the house, but they could not see it? What on earth did Beatty mean? Ridiculous! Probably the house was under some cloaking spell.

The quality of MaxPol officers were getting worse. Stanley's batch was the best, after that, it went downhill. There were some exceptions, like Johnson and Monsford. Beatty was not bad, but he had just gone down a notch for making him annoyed.

He took a sip of his coffee, pushed his chair back and stood up. He wore his cloak, pocketed his wand and slipped his hat on.

'I will make you see it...' muttered Linden under his breath, 'I will make everyone sees it...'